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Staff Editorial: Laptop requirement may not be the best idea
Issue date: 5/21/09 Section: Opinions
The Journalism department is requiring all incoming freshmen and transfer students to purchase Apple Macintosh laptops for the Fall 2009 semester.
The reasoning behind this requirement is found in a flier sent to incoming students. The flier states that the department wants its students to have the best and most up-to-date tools available to them.
While this is a good idea in theory, the reality of the situation is this - we are in an economic recession. Students are already forced to take out loans and apply for financial aid to simply attend school, much less pay for room and board. Requiring them to purchase these laptops, which cost approximately $2-3 thousand dollars, could not only be detrimental to their financial situation, but also their overall education.
According to the flier, students can use their financial aid to pay for these laptops. However, some students do not qualify for financial aid, or their aid payments barely cover their tuition, not to mention room and board, on top of the numerous other fees.
How many times have you been distracted in class because the only sound entering your ears is that of the person next to you on his or her laptop, clacking away on their keyboard or clicking their touch-pad mouse?
You want to believe they are taking notes, but when you peak over at their screen, you see things like Facebook, Solitaire or photographs.
Buzzard Hall has three Mac computer classrooms for journalism students, along with two computer labs that have Macs. Not to mention The Daily Eastern News newsroom uses only Macs.
An argument made in the flier was that students would be able to do their class work in their dorm rooms or apartments using the same programs.
Although there are at least 5 rooms in Buzzard Hall that have Macs for student usage, many of these computers have older programs. Having students work on their projects in class using the older programs, and then transferring them to their new laptops with the latest versions of these programs can lead to lost assignments or issues with transfers.
So, while the new Mac laptop requirement has the potential to be a good thing for new students, the university should be more concerned with helping students pay for their education instead of requiring them to spend even more money for an item that could, in the long run, be detrimental to their education.
The editorial is the majority opinion of The DEN editorial board. Reach the opinions editor at: DENopinions@gmail.com.
The reasoning behind this requirement is found in a flier sent to incoming students. The flier states that the department wants its students to have the best and most up-to-date tools available to them.
While this is a good idea in theory, the reality of the situation is this - we are in an economic recession. Students are already forced to take out loans and apply for financial aid to simply attend school, much less pay for room and board. Requiring them to purchase these laptops, which cost approximately $2-3 thousand dollars, could not only be detrimental to their financial situation, but also their overall education.
According to the flier, students can use their financial aid to pay for these laptops. However, some students do not qualify for financial aid, or their aid payments barely cover their tuition, not to mention room and board, on top of the numerous other fees.
How many times have you been distracted in class because the only sound entering your ears is that of the person next to you on his or her laptop, clacking away on their keyboard or clicking their touch-pad mouse?
You want to believe they are taking notes, but when you peak over at their screen, you see things like Facebook, Solitaire or photographs.
Buzzard Hall has three Mac computer classrooms for journalism students, along with two computer labs that have Macs. Not to mention The Daily Eastern News newsroom uses only Macs.
An argument made in the flier was that students would be able to do their class work in their dorm rooms or apartments using the same programs.
Although there are at least 5 rooms in Buzzard Hall that have Macs for student usage, many of these computers have older programs. Having students work on their projects in class using the older programs, and then transferring them to their new laptops with the latest versions of these programs can lead to lost assignments or issues with transfers.
So, while the new Mac laptop requirement has the potential to be a good thing for new students, the university should be more concerned with helping students pay for their education instead of requiring them to spend even more money for an item that could, in the long run, be detrimental to their education.
The editorial is the majority opinion of The DEN editorial board. Reach the opinions editor at: DENopinions@gmail.com.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Joe Reader
posted 5/24/09 @ 5:49 PM CST
How many times are you going to send out the same edition???
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